What Could Have Been
by RosalieCullen93
Summary: Severus Snape wakes up in an unfamiliar bedroom. A woman obviously lives in it. The pillows smell like Lilly Potter's perfume. The dark mark has vanished from his arm. He walks around. Lilly Potter walks through the doorway and tells him she's his wife, they have children together and he was never a Death Eater. Has everything past his years at Hogwarts been but a dream?
1. Chapter 1

When Severus Snape woke up he immediately knew something was wrong. For one thing, the other side of the bed was warm. The scent of a woman's perfume was on his pillows.

_Who did I sleep with, WHO DID I SLEEP WITH?!_ He thought, panicked. He couldn't remember sleeping with anyone, but he hoped him and Hermione hadn't gotten drunk and given in to their baser instincts. They both had crushes on each other, but worked like hell to suppress them. It'd be the end of his teaching career if he acted on his desires and slept with a student, particularly a student as young as she was. Then he sniffed the pillow. Tears came to his eyes. It was lilac. It smelt like Lilly Potter. He wondered if he hadn't had a one night stand with a woman wearing Lilly's favorite perfume. He tried to think back to last night. He remembered brewing a potion. It was supposed to give him pleasant dreams, not make him so drunk he had a one-night stand. This was quite embarrassing. He sat up and noticed a nightstand. When had he bought that? There was a letter. He picked it up. The letter said "went to go get milk, be back soon, hugs and kisses." It was signed with a kiss, made with lipstick. Be back soon. One did not come back after a one-night stand. That's why it was called a one-night stand. Unless of course his original theory was correct and it was Hermione. With her maternal qualities she'd no doubt check to make sure he had milk, then go get him some upon finding that he was lacking it.

_Not so bad, I suppose. Sweet girl. Annoying though. _He sat up and began walking around. His own bedroom looked unfamiliar to him. He stopped at a picture. It was of him and Lilly, holding hands. They both looked to be in their twenties, which was impossible as Lilly wouldn't even talk to him when he was in his twenties.

He put down the picture, puzzled. He heard someone walking into the room and then he felt someone wrap their arms around him. They were soft arms, feminine and familiar. He turned around and stared into the eyes of a dead woman.

Lilly Potter was behind him.

He broke away from the embrace and stared at her.

"What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" The almost-certainly a hallucination asked.

"No, no, Lilly. Lilly. I…dear Merlin, you're alive." He touched her cheek. She held his hand to her face.

"Sev, why wouldn't I be alive?" She asked.

"The Dark Lord…wait…"

He pulled his hand away and glanced down at his bare arm. The dark mark was gone.

"How?" He whispered.

"How what?"  
"The dark mark…"  
"Sev, you're scaring me. What's all this about the Dark Lord and the dark mark? You-Know-Who's been gone since Dumbledore and the Order defeated him. Did you have a bad dream?" She asked.

"Yes…I…I must have had a bad dream. That's all."

Lilly shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "That's it, no more concocting potions you know nothing about, you're not eighteen anymore, you're going to get yourself killed."  
"Quite right." He agreed. "The dream was just so vivid."

He placed both hands on her shoulders and kissed her deeply, passionately. She held him close, pressed her body to his and kissed him back.

"The dream frightened me. I guess losing you is my worst fear." He told her.

"Oh, goodness, Sev, that's so sweet!" She pushed him down on the bed. "But I'm not going anywhere."

A smile spread across Snape's face.

_Could it be…was it all just a dream?_


	2. Chapter Two

Severus walked cautiously with Lilly , the woman that he knew had died years earlier, into a respectably-sized living room. He was beginning to think most of his life had been a dream. He looked around him. There was a sofa and a couch facing a fireplace. Above the fireplace was hanging a picture of him and Lilly. A very young boy, about two, was clinging to Lilly's leg and a girl of about the same age was clinging to his.

_My children…they're my children. _He had a flash of memory and recalled their names, Alexander and Lilly. Memories flashed back to him in a rush. Calling Lilly that horrid word and then rushing after her. Showing up at her house at three am, drunk, begging forgiveness. Something that dream him-and he was starting to think of it as a dream-chose not to do. She took him back, pathetic, crying loser that he was. Gods, James was jealous. He remembered that they fought for her. She told them that they were both being morons. They went from friends to lovers in one semester. He recalled fighting in the war, staring Lucius Malfoy down before he threw the killing curse that ended his miserable life. He remembered him and James and Sirius, now comrades-in-arms, along with the rest of the Order, storming the Death Eater's stronghold, bringing an end to their reign of terror.

He remembered being praised as a hero.

He remembered James dying from a Death Eaters curse, but before death making him promise to look after Lilly. He and Lilly had gotten married soon after.

So real, it all suddenly seemed so real. Yet, there were other memories running alongside it. Him joining the Death Eaters, Lilly marrying James…

He held his head. He was recalling two separate lives at once. How could this be?

"Dad? Dad, are you alright?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Two teenagers were staring at him. They were the same age and clearly non-identical twins. The girl had red hair and dark brown, almost black, eyes. The boy had black hair and green eyes. They both had a soft, heart-shaped face and a curved nose, though the curve was not quite as sharp as his own.

"I…I'm fine." He said, holding his head. He felt a rush of affection and hugged the teens.

"Dad, are you sure you're alright?"  
"Yes, Lilly, yes, I'm alright."

He hugged them tighter, held on to them. They returned the embrace. They both looked concerned.

"Dad, is something wrong?" Alexander asked.

"No, no, everything's great." He stood back. Alexander, he remembered, had followed in his footsteps and was training to become a potions master. He was in Gryffindor. Lilly was settling down from a rebellious phase where she had briefly run away to Paris at sixteen. She rarely spoke of Paris; though he sometimes caught her wistfully staring out a window and murmuring about someone name Jacque. She was a Slytherin and at Quidditch season the tension between the twins was tense. She had also developed a talent for charms and hexes.

He also remembered that he had no children because his only love had been murdered by the Dark Lord. Something was very, very wrong. He looked around. It all seemed real enough and there were too many details for it to be false. It was not an illusion, not a dream, not a hallucination.

"Who wants pancakes?" Lilly asked breaking his train of thought.

"I do!" The twins shouted.

Snape followed them into the kitchen. He didn't know what was going on, but pancakes sounded good to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Lilly's pancakes were better than Snape remembered them. She had only made pancakes for him once when she was thirteen and he'd shown up in her dorm in the middle of the night. It'd been so strange, a Gryffindor and Slytherin sneaking around. Who would have thought they'd have wound up together?  
_But we did. This is real. This has GOT to be real. _

"Severus, you look so distant." Lilly told him.

"I…I think that potion affected me badly." He said.

"That's it. After you get the kids to school you are going straight to the nurse."  
"I don't need to-"

"Severus. You. Are. Going. To. See. The. Nurse." She said, dangerously slow and with the implication that she'd drag him there herself.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He'd forgotten how protective Lilly could be.

"Hah, Mum so bosses you around." Laughed Alexander.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yes, Ma'am."

After breakfast Snape and the twins left for Hogwarts. But first, he gave Lilly a good-bye kiss, embracing her, pulling her tightly to himself and softly pressing his lips to hers. _I've been waiting far too long to do that._

"Nice kiss." She whispered.

"I love you Lilly, so unbelievably much."

"I love you too." She said kissing him again. He finally left.

His first class went smoothly. He found that he almost missed having Potter to pick on. Almost. Draco was also missing, which made sense considering that Snape distinctly remembered killing his dad. _Did I really just dream Draco up? _

After the class he thought he'd take his wife's advice and go to the nurse. He was developing a headache.

"So, you don't remember anything?" Pomfrey asked, alarmed.

"No, that's not it. I had an extremely vivid dream and…my memories feel strange. Like I have two sets of them and I can't figure out which set is real."

"Tell me some of the odder ones." She said.

"Well, Lilly died, killed by You-Know-Who."

Pomfrey nodded. "Have you been thinking about the war a lot lately?"  
"All the time." He told her.

"It's not unusual for veterans to have dreams like that. I'll give you a potion for the headache."  
He nodded. Pomfrey got him the potion-which, honestly, he could have made himself, but he needed to tell _someone _about his dream-and walked out. As he walked through the grand halls of Hogwarts he felt a presence. He turned around. James Potter stood behind him.

"What are you doing here, James?"

"What are _you _doing here, old friend?" He asked, with a smile that was almost mocking.

"I'm going to my job."  
"You're in the wrong world. You're slipping, old friend."  
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" He roared. Several students and faculty members looked over at him.

"Old rival, then. Don't believe me? Check your arm, though it is hidden, the Dark Mark is there."

Snape nodded and then hurried to his office. Save for a family photo it hadn't changed. He pulled down his robe. Upon his arm was the Dark Mark. It was covered by some sort of goo that had recently melted beneath the heat of the inside of his robe.

He remembered now. He was going to go out on the town, try to find a girl to ease his loneliness. Since almost no one wanted to sleep with an ex-Death Eater (and the ones that did were freaks) he'd made a flesh-colored oil to hide the mark.

_Halfway to the bar I felt like I was betraying Lilly's memory and hurried back home…then I took the potion…_

"It's all coming back, isn't it?"  
He looked up. James was back.

"What do you want you son-of-a-bitch?" Snape snarled.

"No need for language. Well, Severus, you're in the wrong world, the wrong _life_."  
Snape stood up. "How can that be?"

"There are several worlds each for each possible choice. In this world you and I made drastically different choices. I still wound up dead, which ticks me off, but, hey, whatever. I had a good life."

"I like this life. I like the choices I made in this world."  
James shrugged. "I don't really care, but the Guardian of All Realms told me to tell you that if you remain in this world you, and all the versions of you in all the timelines will cease to exist."


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N-This chapter has a lemon in it.)

Snape walked home with a cold feeling in his heart. He had tried to pretend his conversation with James was a hallucination, but the Dark Mark was upon his arm. In another life he had been a Death Eater, a fact he despised. Every day he cursed that decision, cursed himself. In this world he had made different decisions, _better _decisions. Why on earth would he want to leave? Because a dead man who might very well be a figment of his imagination had told him he'd cease to exist if he didn't? He spent some time in his office creating a potion to cover the mark then headed back to his home.

_But is it truly my home? _He wondered as he opened the door. His jaw dropped. Lily was standing near the couch dressed in a skimpy, black dress. She slid over to him and touched his chin.

"I've been worried about you all day." She whispered. "And I thought of a way to take your mind off that bad dream."  
"W-where are the kids?" He asked.

"Out with their friends. They'll probably be gone a few hours."  
"Oh. _Oh."_

She smiled at him. "Right. I thought you'd like this idea."  
She took his hand and led him into the bedroom.

"Lay on your stomach." She told him. He did. She straddled him and took off his heavy robes, so his bare back was exposed. She laid her hands on him.

"So tense." She said. She ran her fingers softly down his back, then kissed his neck. He moaned in pleasure. How long had it been since he'd felt the pleasure of being lovingly touched by another person? She continued running her soft hands along his skin, kneading it and stroking it. He felt her rubbing oil into his skin.

"This isn't fair." He told her. "Why should I have all the fun?"  
"Giving you pleasure is fun for me, you know."

"Still…" He lifted up. She rolled off his back so that she was beside him. He laid over her and pulled open her robes. He could "remember" making love to her before, but it still felt like the first time. He took the open bottle of oil, placed some in the palms of his hands and began rubbing her breasts. He worked his way down, removing the bottom half of her robes and caressing her most intimate places. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She pulled down his robes and underwear, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into herself. As their flesh became as one they both cried out in ecstasy. He ran his fingers through her scarlet hair and drew her close to himself. After their desire was satisfied they laid upon the bed, holding each other for they still longed for union.

"Gods I love you, Lily."  
"I love you, Severus. Also, that was the best sex we've had in years."

"Oh, yes, yes it was."

"But I swear it gets better every time we do it. Do you remember our first time?" She asked.

He thought about it. "Our wedding night. We went to Toulouse to see the sunflowers. It was midnight and we made love in the fields."

"It's been too long since we've been to France." Lily sighed, then held onto his shoulder. "Let's go this summer!"

"Sounds wonderful to me."  
His body stiffened suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Nothing." Snape said, trying to will the ghosts of James Potter to disappear. He mouthed "go away."

"Not going to happen." James responded.

Lily screamed and pulled the covers over her breasts when she finally noticed the ghost.

"J-James? What's going on here?"

"Hi, Lily. What's going on is that the man you're currently in bed with is not who you think he is."  
"Why can't you let me be happy for once in my life, James?" Snape snapped a pleading tone to his voice.

"Because you're presence is disrupting the flow of space and time. The potion on your arm is melting again, by the way."

"Severus, what is he…" She trailed off as she noticed the Dark Mark. She quickly stood up. "Who the hell are you?"  
"Lily, I can explain!"  
"You'd better let me do it. The girl doesn't like Death Eaters very much." James interrupted.

"So, explain." Lily ordered.

"There are many worlds for each possible choice-infinite realms, really. Sometimes, people can fall into the wrong world which has what happened with Snape here. This Snape and me are from the same world where he was a Death Eater…oh and we got married and had a kid."  
Lily blinked. "Me and you got married?"  
"Yep."

"I could kind of see that. I did have a crush on you." She turned to Snape. "Sorry, Severus it's true."

"It was a bit more than a crush in my world, Lily." James continued.

"Why did I choose you over Snape?"  
"So, did he call you a mudblood in this world?"  
"I vaguely remember that." Lily told him. "But, that's been ages ago. We've moved on from that."  
"That's not what happened in the world I'm from." Snape told her. "I made so many mistakes." He gulped. "One of those mistakes got you killed."

He didn't meet her gaze, he couldn't.

"I don't believe you, Severus. I don't believe you'd ever do anything to hurt me."

"You don't know me, Lily."

"I do know you, Severus. There's no way you'd ever-"

"I DID HURT YOU!" Roared Severus standing up. "Don't be naïve! Everyone is capable of evil! Everyone has darkness in their heart!"

Lily shrunk back. "Why, then? Tell me why." She paused. "Wait. If you're not _my _Severus, where is he?"  
"You're Severus is in a sort of limbo, a dream world." James told her.

"Lily, do you want to know? Truly? How I became a Death Eater? How I lost you?" _How I lost my soul_? He thought, but didn't say.

"Yes, Severus, yes I would." She said sitting down next to him.


	5. Chapter 5

As it was a bit awkward having the conversation in the nude Snape, James and Lily moved it to the living room after Lily and Snape got their robes back on. James remained, sort of floating near the door. Snape supposed he really had no part in Snape and Lily's discussion of their past. Snape sat down on the chair, Lily on the sofa. He tried to think back to the memories of his other, alternate life. He definitely recalled showing up at her house drunk.

_Wait, her house?! Why not her dorm?_

"Lily, you'll have to help me out here. What do you remember about the…incident? I mean, right after?"  
"If by incident you mean you calling me a mudblood-"

He visibly flinched.

"Goodness, I thought we were past this, but I do remember not speaking to you for about a semester. I even dated _James _if you can believe that."  
James coughed.

"Oh, you can believe it, I suppose. Well, James was nice enough. We were on a break when you showed up at my door, drunk, begging me for forgiveness. It was actually pretty disturbing…kind of sweet though. I told you to go away and threatened to call the police so you left. You said you were going to change."

_But why? What caused me to have such a drastic change-of-heart_? He privately wondered. He was deep into the Death Eaters by that time as well as being a committed pureblood supremacist. One simply didn't leave that organization, either.

"I remember now. You told me they were making fun of me and you punched one of them. Voldermort kicked you out."  
_I was KICKED OUT of the Death Eaters? _That filled him with a sense of pride and shame at the same time. It definitely wasn't something to boast about. Suddenly, he felt that sensation of reliving two separate lives at once.

_Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…_

The muggle poem seemed appropriate for this situation.

The road he knew, the road he had chosen to walk had seen him studying for an exam, rather than going to a Death Eater only party (yes, they happened) hosted by Lucius Malfoy. He would have gone, but he decided he really needed to study.

The road he didn't know would have changed his life was the road another him had chosen. That him had chosen to go to the party, just to relax a bit. Of course, it was a Death Eater party so after a few drinks they had started talking about muggleborns that they hated. Snape silently drank his red wine. He wanted to preserve his race, yes, but he wasn't into hating others. In fact, some of the conversations were making him downright uncomfortable. Were these people really his friends? It had to be the alcohol talking.

"I'd like to rape that little bitch Lily Evans up the bum before I cut her throat!" One of them shouted. Snape's eyes narrowed.

"The fuck did you just say?" Snape demanded, putting down his glass. He was quite drunk at this point.

The Death Eater turned to him. "I said I'd like to rape that little bitch Lily Evans-"

Snape, before he even realized what he was doing, punched the Death Eater in his jaw. He then picked him up by the robes and slammed him into a wall.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HER THAT WAY AGAIN, I DON'T CARE IF SHE IS A MUGGLEBORN!"

Things had soon degenerated into a brawl. Brawling with your fellow Death Eaters over a muggleborn was apparently not approved of by Voldermort who had appeared in his dorm that night to tell him he was no longer a member of the Death Eaters. Snape hadn't even been given the mark yet. He had responded to the news by getting drunker (a potions master could create alcohol in seconds) and visiting Lily.

"Severus? You alright?" Lily asked.

Severus blinked. The memories had rushed over him and he'd tuned out.

"Sorry."  
"Well, I told you what I remember. What happened with you?"

Severus did not want to tell this story. "You'll hate me after. Not as much as I hate myself of course."

"Just tell me." She said, getting a bit annoyed. She was beginning to get the distinct impression he was stalling.

"Well, I did join the Death Eaters. I went along with everything they were saying. I did…I did terrible things." He clenched his fists. _I'll never forget my victims' last looks of terror…I'll never forget their screams. _"I killed muggleborns and muggles without remorse, but…but…your death-"

"Did you kill me?" She cut him off.

"Yes." He answered.

"No you didn't." James interrupted. "You-Know-Who did. Killed me too."

Lily looked at Snape strangely. "If you didn't kill me why would you claim you had?"

"I _did _kill you, Lily. No, I didn't cast the killing curse, but I might as well have done it myself. There was a prophecy about you, about your and James's child, that he would be the one to defeat the Dark Lord. I didn't realize who the prophecy meant, I couldn't have known…" He had clenched his fists so tightly that his nails had gone into his skin, drawing blood. He didn't feel the pain. He avoided Lily's face, staring down at his feet. "The Dark Lord went to kill the child. You died for the child, Lily. He killed you because you wouldn't give your son up to him."

Lily was silent for a long time. Snape expected her-no wanted her-to yell at him, to tell him he disgusted her, to beat him senseless. She didn't.

"What became of him? My son, I mean."

"Your sacrifice, Lily, protected the boy from the killing curse. The curse rebounded and destroyed the Dark Lord."  
Lily nodded. "Where is he now?"  
"Harry-that's his name-has grown up. The Dark Lord returned, but Harry will defeat him. I believe in him."

Lily nodded again. "I see." She said. "I don't hate you."

"What?"  
"You made some stupid choices, but I can't bring myself to hate you. Merlin knows I want to. I hate Death Eaters, spent years fighting your kind, but you're different."  
"No, Lily, no I'm not. I'm just as bad as those other Death Eaters."

He'd been trying to hold back the tears, but now they overflowed. He tried in vain to wipe them away. Lily touched his face. He slid to his knees and started crying against her.

"Lily, please forgive me, please give me _that_, I'm so sorry for so many things and I have no right to ask for this, but the only thing I can ask from you is your forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what? You didn't hurt me. It's that other Lily you want to ask."

"I _can't_, she's _dead _because of me!" He shouted and then started sobbing. She wrapped her arms around him, not sure if there was anything she could say.

"Would you like to see her?" James asked him. "Your Lily? Or ours, I suppose I should say."

"You know I would James, you sadistic bastard."

"Then, let's go see her. You'll have to leave this world of course."

Snape stood up. "You could do that?"

"Of course."

"Then…I guess I'll go." He said. Lily wiped away his tears.

"I suppose this is good-bye." He told her.

"I guess so. It certainly has been…interesting." Lily said. She hugged him and then he walked over to James.

"Hold my hand, the ride to the spirit world is bumpy."  
"James, am I dead?"  
James rolled his eyes. "I can't believe it's taken you this long to figure that out. Don't think about it too hard, it'll come back to you."

Snape nodded and gave him his hand. As Lily watched light enveloped them and James was gone. Snape was still there, looking confused, but this Snape didn't have a Dark Mark and there was a different look to his eyes, softer somehow. He looked around. "Lily, what the hell…how did I…what time is it?"

"Sev, it's been a really weird day, if I told you I don't think you'd believe me."

…

I hope my Severus wasn't acting too emotional, but he never struck me as the most emotionally stable character anyway. There will be a next chapter, so stay tuned.


	6. Chapter 6

Snape was at a loss to figure out how it was he died. He recalled wanting to go out, covering the accursed Mark…then…

_Then HE called you, _Snape recalled you. The Dark Lord's final betrayal was brutal and swift. A single bite from his snake and it was all over. Snape shook his head.

"I can't believe how soon it ended." He murmured sadly.

"Nor can I." James said. "I was hoping to at least see Harry become a man."  
"He…he's got a lot of Lily in him."  
"That means a lot coming from you."  
James' smile told Severus that he was being sincere. They seemed to be flying through the cosmos. Severus saw stars and planets, a vast universe sprawling out in all directions. The universe seemed to shift and Snape found himself standing on green grass. The landscape was dotted with rolling hills. The sky was bright blue and the sun sparkled upon the rivers that coursed through the land.

"I'm in Heaven." Snape marveled.

"Yes." James told him. "Surprised?"  
"I never thought I'd make it here to be perfectly honest."  
"I've been waiting for you."

Snape froze. It was her voice, as fresh and youthful as when she had been a teen. He couldn't bring himself to turn around and the face the only woman he had ever loved, the woman his foolish actions had killed.

James smiled at his wife. "I'll give you two some privacy." He walked away.

"Sev."

He didn't turn around.

"Sev, please, I want to see you."  
"You must hate me." He said. "For the things I've done."

He didn't cry, he was in a place of despair too deep for tears. Her voice left him feeling dead inside. She had died in the prime of her life. It was his fault she had died so young.

He flinched as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Alright you stubborn ass, we can play this game for all eternity, I will get a conversation out of you."

He turned around. Her face was just as he remembered it. The tears welled up in his eyes and he fell to his knees.

"Lily, I…I'd say sorry, but I don't deserve your forgiveness."

She stroked his cheek. "Don't you think you've earned it? You took care of my son, led him to Gryffindor's sword, taught him so much…Sev, I'm grateful."  
He almost laughed. "Grateful? Lily, I'm a monster. I'm the one that gave him the prophecy, I'm the reason you died!"

She knelt down. "Sev, you made terrible decisions, but what separates you from every other Death Eater is that you chose the light, chose to fight against your past, betrayed the Dark Lord himself-that took so much bravery I'd nominate you as an honorary Gryffindor."

"Is that so, Lily?" He looked up. "Lily, none of that matters. The only thing I want is your forgiveness, even if I don't deserve it."

"Granted, old friend." She wrapped her arms around him. He laid his head on her shoulder and wept. She rocked him back and forth, held him tight. "It's alright, it's alright, I forgive you." She cooed. "There's something I want you to forgive me for." She said. She reached out a hand and wiped the tears from his eyes.  
"What could you possibly want my forgiveness for? You have never done me any wrong."

"No, you're wrong, there was something. I wish I had been a better friend."  
"Lily, you were the best friend I ever had…no, you were the only true friend I ever had."  
She smiled at him sadly. "Then, why couldn't I save you? I was petty and hurt and I didn't even realize the hell I put you through when I left you. I abandoned you when you needed me most."

"I was a lost cause." _But, yes, it felt like you were plunging a red hot knife through my stomach._

"I…I didn't realize the way you felt…that you loved me."

"I still do." He told her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" She asked, sounding genuinely hurt.

"I tried, Lily, many times. I could never find the courage." He couldn't bear to ask her if she shared those feelings. "I saw what would have happened if we'd been together. Seeing what could've been, but can never be, feeling that regret, that must've been my own personal hell."

"Maybe so." She mused, absentmindedly rubbing his back. "But, you have to move on. I've been waiting for you to get here, so that I can move on."  
"You've been waiting for me?"

"We were best friends, I had to know what became of you and like I said I blamed myself for you becoming a Death Eater. If I had been there for you maybe things would have been different."

"Lily, I…I thought you would hate me, I thought you _did _hate me."  
"No, Sev, I was angry at you, I was disappointed in you, but I never hated you." She paused. "But, please just tell me you forgive me for turning my back on you."  
"I forgive you then."

"I'm glad." She told him. "And, once again, I forgive you and I don't hate you."  
"Do you love me?" He asked. He had waited too long to ask the question he frankly didn't care that her husband might be secretly listening to the conversation. His opinion of James hadn't changed very much.

"I think if I had stood by you and if you had actually matured…well, you did mature, but by then it was too late…maybe we could've been something." She grimaced. "Am I helping? I'm not helping am I?"  
"No, you're helping. I needed to know." He answered her. "Oh, if only you and I had been born in a different time."  
"You know, after leaving here, you live another life." She said.  
"Really?" Snape asked.

"Maybe next time…maybe." She whispered.

"We can hope."

"This is good-bye for us. I can't stay here much longer."  
Snape saw James walking up towards them. He stood up. James took Lily's hand.

"Are you ready to go, Lily?" He asked her.

"One more thing."  
She let go of James, then gave Snape a kiss on the cheek. He kissed her back.

"We'll see each other again. I promise." She whispered to him.

"I promise you, Lily, we'll get it right this time." He whispered back.

She vanished, then James. Then Snape felt his consciousness beginning to fade, beginning to return to the Universe…

…

"Hi, there. My name's Rose Weasley. You're Scorpius? That's what my dad said?" The girl with red hair and blue eyes asked him as she walked up to him while they were headed towards the dining hall. Scorpius blinked. He'd never seen the girl in his life, but there was something familiar about her. He felt a pang, somewhere deep in his soul, of longing and loneliness, something he felt often, but was at a loss to explain.  
"Yes, I'm Scorpius."

"My dad says I should beat you on every test and I probably will. But, you know…maybe we could be friends?" She smiled shyly at him.

He smiled back. "Yeah, you know, I think I'd like that."

_Fin_

(A/N-This is the longest story I've ever written! I hope the ending wasn't confusing and I hope I didn't get too Buddhist-y-Paganish, but basically Scorpio and Rose are the reincarnations of Lily and Snape. I might write a sequel, but since I'm starting to work on a fantasy novel, this account might not be very active. Tell me your thoughts in the reviews!)


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